Pentagon suspects cyberattack behind military base freezer failures

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 29 Oct, 16:20 · Archive

The Pentagon is investigating freezer malfunctions at six military commissaries in August as a suspected cyberattack.

The Pentagon is investigating freezer malfunctions that spoiled food at military bases across the United States in late August as a suspected cyberattack, according to officials familiar with the matter. The malfunctions affected at least six military commissaries — stores where service members buy food. In at least one case, cooling units' temperatures were cranked up overnight, leaving mounds of wilted and melted food. Fort Huachuca in Arizona reported on 26 August that freezers 'went into defrost mode where it heated up all the food'.

Military investigators are in touch with French counterparts about a similar cyberattack on commercial freezers that disrupted supermarkets there earlier in August. The US Army Criminal Investigation Division's Cyber Field Office is involved in the investigation and is working with French law enforcement to understand the European refrigeration outages. A unit of Cyber Command, the military's cyber force, is 'working in close coordination with interagency and law enforcement partners,' according to the Pentagon.

Reuters could not establish how far the Pentagon's investigation had progressed or whether officials had reached conclusions about what happened or who might be responsible. The spate of freezer malfunctions and possibility of sabotage were first reported on 28 August by a recently created blog called Signal and Silence.

How it is being reported

• Pentagon suspects mysterious freezer malfunctions at military bases were caused by hackersMilitary investigators are in touch with their French counterparts about a similar cyberattack on supermarket freezersIndependent World · 29 Oct, 15:55
• Pentagon treating military base freezer malfunctions as suspected cyberattack: officialsThe late August malfunctions affected at least six commissaries — on-base stores where military personnel buy their food.New York Post · 29 Oct, 11:18

In this story: Pentagon · Fort Huachuca · Arizona · Cyber Command · US Army Criminal Investigation Division · France

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log